02 July 2014

Linkpendium -- one of my favorite genealogy websites

This is the
second in a sporadic series where I talk about some of my favorite resources,
sometimes put aside for awhile and then re-remembered in the course of a
research project.

Linkpendium. I go back to this resource time and time
again, whether I am re-researching in a locale where I have previously done
research or I am just starting some research for a community I am unfamiliar
with. And, even though I do extensive NC research just about every day, I will also check this site if my research involves a NC county for which I haven’t recently done any research.

This
website does overlap with Cyndi’s
List (with which many of you are probably familiar) and they each have
their own unique focus and structure. Both are content aggregators. This means that neither has created any of the content to which they link, though both help us out tremendously by putting at our finger tips, in one place, links to many disparate sources of information.

I typically
go to Cyndi’s list for non county-specific records information (e.g. research
topics, country records, tools, etc) and I go to Linkpendium for
county-specific records.

Linkpendium
was developed (and still maintained with the assistance of others) by Karen
Isaacson and Brian (Wolf) Leverich, founders of the extremely popular RootsWeb genealogical community site. They are constantly updating (adding, deleting,
correcting) the links on the website.
The easiest way to keep up with the website is via the Linkpendium
Facebook (FB) page where it stated that as of 21 June 2014, the site indexes
10,413,608 different sources of genealogical data. Do recognize that not just
status reports on Linkpendium appear on this FB page.

Additionally,
the website is always soliciting links to new websites (or new to Linkpendium
websites). There is a form you can fill out (URL, description, your email
address) to let them know about a website.
You can access this form at the top of each page where you see “Please, add your favorite Website(s) to this page!”

Though you
can access the entire website from the link given previously, I typically just
put something like Wake + County + Linkpendium into my search engine, click
what is usually the top entry, and then I immediately am where I want to be.

Each
county-level (and also state-level) page has the same structure.Only if there is NO content appropriate for a
particular heading does that heading not appear.For each item listed, the source is
identified, hyperlinks are provided directly to the resource, and then
information on whether a fee website, indicated by ($), or a FREE website (nothing
shown) is provided.

It is an
incredibly quick and easy way to find out how much material you might find
online for a locale of interest. The
more that is listed, the more you might do in your jammies. A smaller list means much of your research
will need to take place offline (maybe time for that road trip, as we talked
about yesterday!). As with any compilation, don’t assume it’s comprehensive and
error-free (that is impossible), and it’s a great place to get started.

I start
every new project by going to this website and seeing what it lists as
available. After you check it out, maybe
you will too!

Editor’s Note : You can tell the affinity I have for this website as I have written two indepth pieces and included it in talks ::

NGS does not
imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this
blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not
necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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